'The Simpsons' Deemed Catholic, Al Jean Doesn't Think So

October 19, 2010 (4:53 am) GMT

The executive producer can't imagine Homer Simpson fasting or skipping meat on Fridays during weeks leading to Easter.

According to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily broadsheet, Homer Simpson is a Catholic, but the show's creator disagrees. The FOX's animated sitcom "The Simpsons" is praised by the newspaper for covering issues like family, community, education and religion although Homer sleeps during sermons and picks on his religious neighbor Ned Flanders.

Executive producer Al Jean is flattered by the mention, but insists that many times Homer is not so holy. "My first reaction is shock and awe and I guess it makes up for me not going to church for 20 years," Jean told EW, adding "We've pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic. I really don't think he could go without eating meat on Fridays - for even an hour."

Homer once sold his soul to Satan for a donut but he and the family indeed said prayers before meals. Under the headline "Homer and Bart are Catholics", the newspaper wrote, "The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes."

It also quoted a 2005 episode where Bart is enrolled to a Catholic school where he meets a priest voiced by Liam Neeson. The priest was so sympathetic that Homer is drawn to Catholicism. "Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic," L'Osservatore Romano noted.